Page 28 of Wicked Witch of the Wolf

“Meow?”

“You know why. Because she’s scary.”

We strolled to Red’s grave together. Once the eldest saguaro in the park, Red had been the last of the seven—Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet—to die after Mom’s death.

More than anything, I wanted him and the other saguaros to grow back. Not only because their presence had once powered the protection spell around the Siete Saguaros, but because I missed them. Especially Red. He’d been my confidante during some of my lowest times as a kid, and I ached to talk to him again.

Some kids talked to friends and family. I’d talked to a cactus. Call it an earth witch thing.

I planted my feet flat on the soil inside the rock-ringed grave, crouched, and flattened my palms against it, too. The music, low and soothing, had switched to the immensely appropriate, “Close to You” by the Carpenters.

The song was on my lips as I curled my fingers, sinking the tips into the soil. A few months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do this so easily. The dirt had been unyielding, unhealthy. Over the last few months, it had started to come around, mostly becauseI’dstarted to come around and had taken better care of it.

We were both finding our way back to each other.

My toes dug into the soil, and I closed my eyes. My stomach fluttered the way it did when I jumped off the high dive at the public pool, and suddenly cool earth cushioned me from all sides.

The lack of air underground would’ve killed anyone else. An earth elemental didn’t need to worry as long as there was magic in the soil. Even a tiny amount would do.

Thankfully, the Siete Saguaro contained far more than a tiny amount, and for the first time since my mother’s death, I was feeling a connection with it. It was weak, and didn’t last long, but it wasenough that the soil wasn’t draining my magic anymore. I could live with this.

For now.

My fingers grazed Red’s dormant roots, feeding magic into them. I wanted him to know I hadn’t forgotten him. That I loved him, and I’d find a way to bring the saguaros back if it took my entire lifetime to do it.

My mother’s presence came to me then, unexpected and welcome. Here, deep within the soil, I felt close to her again. I wanted to sob with joy at the feeling.

You know Margaux better than anyone, I thought to her.What is she up to? I know not to trust her, but should I be more afraid?

Mom didn’t answer, of course. She was three years gone, and I was imagining this conversation the same way I was imagining the response of Red’s roots. The earth brought me these small comforts for the same reason I worked the soil with fertilizer, compost, and magic. Because we loved each other.

Somewhere along the way, I’d forgotten we were supposed to be a team, on the same side. Not adversaries, but partners like Fennel, Cecil, Ida, and me.

Family.

My selfishness brought tears to my eyes, and the earth soaked them up, a mother drying her child’s eyes.

I relaxed into her embrace and let my consciousness burrow away.

“Betty? Dig yourself out of there. Coffee’s ready and I’ve got biscuits in the oven.”

Ida’s voice—and if I’m being honest, the mention of coffee—goaded me awake. I swam to the sound and scent, breaking free of the soil and taking a slow, gentle breath to acclimate my lungs.

It was like surfacing after a long meditation, my respiration and mind were quiet, my body unused to movement. I rolled my head and pushed to my feet.

Ida perched on the porch swing, sipped coffee from a mug, andwaited for me to come around. This wasn’t her first time witnessing my slow crawl out of the ground, and it wouldn’t be the last. She’d dug me out of the earth with her bare hands to save my life after the saguaros died and I gave them too much magic in my attempt to bring them back.

Ida was my home team, my best friend, and my partner in questionable activities.

My partners in literal crime were Fennel and Cecil. Mostly Cecil, for obvious reasons. Although Ida was always game for a-little-less-than-legal shenanigans, I tried not to involve her in anything that might get her in too much trouble.

She stopped the swing with the rubber toes of her neon pink sneakers. “You all right?”

“Yes.”

I sucked in a breath as every inch of my skin heated to the point of pain. Steam wreathed me in hazy clouds. My body absorbed the vapor, and magic slid beneath my skin and surged into my bloodstream.

“Whoa.” Her blue eyes widened, and a tendril of silvery-white hair fell from behind her ear. “I was going to tell you to go rinse off while I get the biscuits on the table, but I don’t think you need to.”

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